Pentecost

“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”                Mahatma Gandhi

Today is the Christian Festival of Pentecost. At the heart of this feast day is the remembering of the events that are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles when the Holy Spirit descended upon a small group of followers of Jesus Christ and fired them with an unquenchable faith in God and their ability, by God’s Grace, to change the course of history for the world.

As we face the challenges in our lives, these can be personal or as a church we can think of the need to raise £10K to build a kitchen in the back of St John’s church to enhance our time together on a Sunday and increase the use of the church by the community in the week, or at St Matthias the need raise £15K to replace our boiler that will be shut down in June, we can draw comfort from the fact that with the Holy Spirit as our companion all things are possible. When faced with seemingly insurmountable odds it is hard to know where to start.

If we were planning a movement that would shape the world for all time would we have started with a baby in a stable, with God on a cross, with a small group of men and women in a small room? But this is exactly what God choose for us and we give thanks for the church that is the greatest gift left by Jesus and continuously renewed by the Holy Spirit.

As we gather together we can draw inspiration from another great leader of the 20^th century 

Martin Luther King Jr who wrote:

“ Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step”

Ascension Day

Today we continue our Easter celebrations by remembering Jesus' ascension into heaven. The hymn we sing at evening prayer captures the feel of this feast day:

Eternal Monarch, King most high,
Whose blood hath brought redemption nigh,
By Whom the death of Death was wrought,
And conquering grace’s battle fought.

Ascending to the throne of might,
And seated at the Father’s right,
All power in Heav’n is Jesu’s own,
That here His manhood had not known.

That so, in nature’s triple frame,
Each heav’nly and each earthly name,
And things in hell’s abyss abhorred,
May bend the knee and own Him Lord.

Yea, angels tremble when they see
How changed is our humanity;
That flesh hath purged what flesh had stained,
And God, the Flesh of God, hath reigned.

Be Thou our joy and strong defense,
Who art our future recompense;
So shall the light that springs from Thee
Be ours through all eternity.

O risen Christ, ascended Lord,
All praise to Thee let earth accord,
Who art, while endless ages run,
With Father and with Spirit One.

Crucially, today is about the glorification of Jesus' humanity. At the ascension, Jesus doesn't stop being human, but rather takes our human nature to the throne of God. A human being is enthroned in heaven, and worshipped by angels. "God, the Flesh of God, hath reigned."

Through our baptism we share in the risen humanity of Jesus. And every human being who has ever lived, or will, live has something in common with the ascended Jesus simply in virtue of their humanity. Today let's recommit ourselves to recognising the dignity of every human being, to building a world which respects that dignity, to living as Christians as a sign of hope to those around us, and to giving thanks for what God has done for us through Jesus, risen from the dead and ascended into heaven.

Help us raise money for a new boiler!

We are pleased that lots of people from all over the world read our blog regularly, and see this as a growing and important part of our ministry in these parishes.

There is now the option to donate to our work by clicking on the 'donate' button on the right-hand side, beneath the Twitter feed.

Please consider doing this. At the moment, donations will go towards the cost of a new boiler for St Matthias Church. Our gas safety certificate will not be renewed this summer, so we need to find £15,000 to pay for a new boiler. This will heat both our church and our community halls, which are used daily by groups ranging from refugee organisations to local Brownies.

We will be on a hard fundraising drive in the parish over the next few months, and have numerous events planned, which you'll be hearing more about! However, we need to raise a lot of money for a small parish, so we'd appreciate it if our friends from further afield could help. Anything you feel able to give would be very welcome.

Thank you in advance.

There's Something About Mary

Happy May Day! The month of May is traditionally a time for celebrating Our Lady.

And there's a lot to celebrate. Sadly people have sometimes misunderstood devotion to Mary, which is a deeply traditional and ancient part of Christian practice, thinking that it somehow 'distracts' from a focus on Jesus. On the contrary, devotion to Mary points to Jesus, reminding us that, though her, God genuinely became a human being, taking our flesh in Jesus. This man is truly God; and so this woman is truly God's Mother.

Mary, who we ask to pray for us, reminds us of the communal nature of Christianity. It is not all about 'me and God' - we are (as our politicians are fond of saying) all in it together. We support each other by our prayers, and Mary - the first to accept Christ - is a particularly potent sign of the praying Church.

Mary, taken up into glory, reminds us of our destiny. Human beings are not created for death. We are called to share one day in the Easter life which Mary shares already with her Son.

Mary, who co-operated with God's work of redemption, reminds us that we are called to do likewise. God does not treat us as puppets. He longs for a free, loving, response from us.

In these, and many other ways, Mary points to important truths about our redemption in Christ. The orthodox Christian vision of the world is one for which the created, material world is good, and has been glorified by the Incarnation. It is one in which God respects our humanity, working with it and alongside it, rather than over and against it. Those times in Christian history where there has been opposition to honouring Mary have also been times where one or more of these truths has been questioned.

Good Shepherd Sunday

  “My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me”

In claiming to be a follower of Jesus Christ, we have the dubious honour of being likened to sheep! However what ever parallels or comparisons are drawn from this analogy one must be that as one of his sheep Jesus claims that we are people who hear his voice!

As followers of Christ we are told that we will hear his voice calling us, directing us, guiding us, protecting and supporting us. But do we really listen?

Throughout history God has listened to the cry of his people.

1.It began in the garden, with the single cry of the lonely and terrified Adam. His cry was for companionship, someone to share the responsibility and joys of Gods creation with, and God heard his cry and created Eve.

2. It continued with the cry of Abel’s blood spilt out onto the ground, the cry for justice, and the demand for judgement.

3. There was the cry of a people, enslaved by the rich and powerful. A cry for someone to lead them out of their bondage into the promise land. God heard them and sent Moses.

4.There was the cry of Elizabeth in the night of her old age, united with many through out the ages who in their loss and shame had been granted new life, a share in the creative power of God. Elizabeth’s cry signals the beginning of a new and radical way in which God would deal with his people. The ultimate answer to this cry from humanity is the incarnation, the birth of Jesus.

When we are faced with our own torments or difficult decisions do we really listen for the voice of God?  

or do we rather listen to our own voice-

the voice of reason,

the seductive call of our secular consumer society that seeks to enslave us and rob us of our true identity and dignity as one of Gods chosen ones?

My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me”

We know that there are many who cannot and will not listen to the voice of our Lord and the terrible consequences of not following him are evidenced all around us.

As one of God’s sheep we belong to him and as one of his sheep we can hear him assure us that he will give us life, will lead us to better pastures, will defend us in times of tribulation.  

Congratulations to Sophie Elizabeth Hayes who was baptised at St John this morning. Our prayers go with her and her family.

O Tell me the Truth about Love - 3rd sunday of Easter

O Tell me the truth about love

Some say that love's a little boy,

and some say its a bird,

Some say it makes the world go round,

And some say that absurd......

When it come, will it come without warning, 

just as I am picking my nose?

will it knock on the door in the morning,

or tread in the bus on my toes?

Will it come like a change in the weather?

will its greeting be courteous or rough?

will it alter my life altogether?

O tell me the truth about love        
                                   January 1938 W.H. Auden

In the original Greek of the New Testament , there are three different words translated by the one English word love.

There is eros, which means sensual or erotic love, the kind of love that leads to marriage. Erotic love lies in senses and the emotions that find the object of love attractive.

Then there is philia, meaning love of the likeable, the admiration and devotion we have for a worthy person or thing, such as love for a hero, love of parents, and love of art. Likeable love dwells in the mind that judges the object of love worthy of it.

Finally there is agape, which means self-sacrificing and unconditional love, even for a person who may not deserve it and when there is nothing tangible to be gained. Agape love is in the will. It is a decision.

In Verse 15 of the 21st Chapter of St John's Gospel Jesus asks Peter, “Do you Agapas me? Do you have agape love for me?” meaning “Do you love me in such a manner as to sacrifice your life for me.” Peter knows that he has not lived up to this standard of love. He knows that he disowned Jesus in order to save his own skin. So what does Peter answer? He answers, “Philô se. Yes, Lord, I have philia love for you,” meaning, “Yes, Lord, you know how deeply I like and admire you.”

 Peter is saying to Jesus, “Yes, I like and admire you, but no, I have not been able to love you with a self-sacrificing love as you demand.”

So Jesus asks him a second time whether he has agape love for him and Peter again replies that he has only philia love for him. Finally, unwilling to embarrass him any further, Jesus then asks him “Do you have philia love for me?” And Peter answers “Yes, I have philia love for you.” End of the interrogation! Jesus accepts Peter the way he is. Even his philia love is good enough.

The Peter we see here is not the loud-mouthed, confident man who thought he was better than the other disciples but a wiser, humbler man who would not claim more than he can deliver. Peter’s confession here can be likened to that of the father of the possessed boy who confessed to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). What Peter is saying is “I love you, Lord; help my lack of love.”

So if Jesus is asking us this morning do you love me? I wonder which kind of love we are prepared to name and honour? Philia or Agape?

2nd Sunday of Easter

Congratulations to Dean and Alison on the baptism of their first born "miracle" Lilly.

A view of the Easter from St John

confession and absolution
in the refiners fire

Father forgive them they do not know
what they are doing

Space for reflection on Good Friday

preparing for the Veneration of the Cross at 2.00pm

Alleluia Christ is Risen: He is Risen indeed

Signs of love - reflection from Holy Thursday

"Love one another as I have loved you" - there we have it, a new commandment. Fairly simple to preach about, you would think - just do what Jesus says!

But there are dangers here. If the first thing we take away from this evening's gospel reading is that we should do things then we are likely to become absolute menaces. If what we hear is "get up, go and love, do loving things, and do them now..." we will become some kind of frenetic do-gooder, ever in earnest search for the next opportunity to love, unshaken in our self-confidence and sense of rightness, convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone else loved, just like we do. At best, we would be a pain in the neck. At worst we would be deluded - in Christian terms, we would be the kind of heretic who believes that we can save ourselves. Either way, in spite of our initial intention, we would certainly end up being profoundly unloving in practice. Anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of the ministrations of the kind of person I have described will know what I mean.

 The reason for this is a peculiar feature of love. I cannot give love until I have received love.

Look at what happens to people when they are systematically denied love. They turn in on themselves, putting up defences against a fundamentally hostile world. Other people become viewed simply as threats, and fear of this sort prevents the kind of giving-of-self which we call 'love'. Love is a way of living in the world, a way of being towards another person which sees their freedom as a gift to me, rather than a threat. I cannot live this way unless someone has loved me first, for the simple reason that if I am only ever seen as a threat by others, I will never get the opportunity to develop my own loves. I too, will always have to be on my guard. I need to be given space to love; which is to say, I need to have been loved before I can love.

It is like this with our ordinary, day-by-day loves. It is like this too with our loving relationships with God - the kind of relationship that the Bible calls 'covenants'. Unless God loves me first, I cannot love God. I can be in awe at God, for sure; I can fear God, or plead with him. But what I cannot do, without God's gift of love (what Christians call 'grace'), is love God. Jesus washes his disciples feet and then, only then, when they have received the serving love of the Lord, are they told to wash one another's feet. If we want to love the world with the same love that Christ did - and that is the way of life to which we are called by our covenant relationship with God - then we have to allow ourselves to be loved by Christ. "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me".

We need to open ourselves up to love. Otherwise we will not be able to serve.

We are reminded of this by the foot washing at this evening's Mass. The celebrant, representing Christ, washes the feet of members of the congregation. They don't do anything. They just sit there, having their feet washed - receiving, rather than giving. In our frantic world, this can be a difficult thing to do.

And yet it is what we do, at a indescribably deeper level, at every Mass. At every Mass the convenant of love between God and human beings is signed and sealed. God draws us, his People, into the offering of his Son on the altar, and gives us his Body and Blood of food. Here we have the supreme sign, and reality, of God's love for us. And it is given to us as a gift.

The gift of God's life in the Eucharist is, quite literally, ours for the taking. If we open ourselves up to it we will be transformed, and become the kind of people who can love extravagantly, because we have been loved extravagantly ourselves. Love is the beginning and end of Christian living. Love is the beginning and end of the Mass. Love is the reason we were created, and it is in love that we will find ultimate fulfilment, a fulfilment we look forward to, and receive as an already present gift, every time we do what the Lord said this night - "do this in remembrance of me".

Message from our bishop at the Chrism Mass

Bishop Richard sending us on our way with his blessings

"We are being given a little more time to develop a transforming confidence not in ourselves but in the love of God; to deepen a healing compassion and to bear fruit in the creativity with which we use our gifts for the common good."

Fr John showing off his new Prebendary wear in a local coffee house

Clergy gather on the steps if St Paul's to be blessed by our Bishop

Father John, Tony and Simon, Reader Angharad all renewed their vows and commitment to their ministry and vocation at the Chrism Mass 

Judas

On the weekdays of Holy Week we are having a sermon at Mass reflecting on 

characters from the gospel accounts of Jesus' Passion.

Today we focused on Judas Iscariot.

I always felt a bit sorry for Judas. When I was a child, my parents explained to me that Simnel Cakes traditionally had eleven eggs on top because these symbolised the Apostles, leaving out Judas. At the time I remember feeling that leaving someone out was a bit mean, no matter what they had done. 

But, of course, the maligning of Judas goes far beyond Easter customs. His name has become a by-word for betrayal. "Judas", someone famously shouted at Bob Dylan when he produced an electric guitar on stage. Judas' name has been used in anger in relationships scarred by betrayal, in communities during strikes, in nations torn apart by war, the list goes on. And whenever Judas' name is used it carries a power, a sense of accusation.

And not without good reason. Betrayal cuts at the heart of what it is to be human. We are, by our nature, social creatures. The biblical account which has God saying that it is not good for Adam, the symbolic human being, to be alone confirms what ordinary life teaches us. We thrive in community. We depend on others for our food, our security, and for fellowship. There is something fundamentally lacking in a human life which does not involve mature and open relationships to others. It is no surprise then that the Christian account of salvation is a social one: the reality the Bible calls the 'Kingdom of God' is, by its very nature, collective. It is not about me being saved through my personal relationship with God. It is about us, a people, being saved together. The Church, anticipating the Kingdom, is a reminder of the communal nature of our human destiny.

Betrayal attacks all of this. Through undermining the trust which is essential to significant social bonds, it attacks those bonds themselves. It is for this reason that Dante thought betrayal the worst of all sins, and placed traitors - notable amongst them Judas - in the lowest pit of Hell in his Divine Comedy.

Yet we are all traitors. All of us turn away from Christ and from others to a greater or lesser extent. All of us deny him when it suits us. All of us reject what we know to be the things that loyalty to Christ and to humanity demands. We are all traitors.

The gospel reading for today's Mass describes two traitors. Not only Judas, but also Peter, will betray Christ. There is one difference. Peter, after Jesus' Resurrection, is reconciled with Jesus, professing love three times and so 'undoing' the three times he denied Jesus. Peter is  forgiven, and sent out to 'feed my sheep'. Judas does not seek reconciliation - in other accounts he is described as hanging himself. We are all traitors - nevertheless the Christ who is the ultimate object of all our betrayals, big and small, welcomes us back and promises to restore us to flourishing relationships with himself and with others. He invites us, we need to accept that invitation.

An encouragement for this week

A seasonal smile

Fig Monday

The next three days of Holy Week have traditional names, taken from incidents in the gospel accounts of Jesus' last week. Tuesday is known as Temple Tuesday, Wednesday as Spy Wednesday.

My favourite name, however, is tomorrow's. Holy Monday is also Fig Monday. The name comes from the account of Jesus cursing the fig tree. In Mark's account, the cursing of the fig tree 'frames' the story of Jesus' protest action in the Temple. Jesus attacks not the Temple as such - the sorry history of Christian anti-Semitism has sometimes led this point to be overlooked - nor even commercial transactions. Rather, this story needs to be read against the background of the Temple's role in the domination of Palestine under Roman occupation. Jesus' action (the context of which is unfolded brilliantly in Borg and Crossan's very readable The Last Week) is a statement against misusing the things of God to get power over other human beings. It is a statement that still needs to be heard today.

And figs? The sour figs are a symbol of an instituion (the Temple) which has become bitter, unfit for purpose. The cursing, and subsequent withering, of the fig tree are a warning to all of us trying to be the Church in the 21st century.


Now, why not have some figs for your pudding tomorrow? See here for a recipe.

Palm Sunday

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
Hark! all the tribes Hosanna cry;
Thy Humble beast pursues its road
With palms and scattered garments strowed.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die!
O Christ! Thy triumph now begin
Over captive death and conquered sin.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
The wingèd squadrons of the sky
Look down with sad and wondering eyes
To see the approaching sacrifice.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
Thy last and fiercest strife is nigh;
The Father, on His sapphire throne,
Expects His own anointed Son.

Ride on, ride on, in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
Bow Thy meek head to mortal pain,
Then take, O God, Thy power, and reign.

The third and fourth verses of this hymn we sang today speak elegantly of what we will be celebrating in the coming week. Christ is truly our sacrifice. He enters Jerusalem to offer himself for us and for the whole world.

But we misunderstand sacrifice if we think it is all about destruction, death, and violence. Far too often the Cross is presented as the appeasing of a wrathful God by the violent death of an innocent victim. No, what matters is not how Jesus dies, but who it is who lives and dies. Jesus is the Father's 'own anointed Son'. Our Christ, our anointed one, is both God and a human being. As a human being, living and dying as one of us, he invites us into the offering of love that is at the heart of the life of God. This offering, lived out in a human life, was summed up on the Cross.

It is an offering we are invited to participate in, this week and every week.

St Joseph

Our observance of the feast of St Joseph begins at Evening Prayer today. Mass will be celebrated at St Matthias at 10am tomorrow.

God our Father,

who from the family of your servant David

raised up Joseph the carpenter

to be the guardian of your incarnate Son

and husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

give us grace to follow him

in faithful obedience to your commands;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever

Amen

Reflection for Lent 5 (Passion Sunday)

John's account of Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus' feet presents us with a profound contrast. On the one hand we have Mary - lavish, extravagent, out of control for the sake of love. On the other we have Judas who, whatever his motivations (on which the evangelist has a particular spin), is the voice of restrained, sensible, pragmatism - think of the consequences, we can imagine him saying, the resources used to anoint Jesus could have been put to better use, for lasting effect. The Judas whose voice we hear in this gospel reading is a familiar figure in our society, in our churches, and in our selves - he is present whenever love, which by its very nature always wants to exceed itself, is held back in a supposedly higher cause.

Mary, says Jesus chillingly, has anointed him for his burial.Today's gospel looks forward to the Cross, the point at which love comes into ultimate opposition with its opponents, what the evangelist calls 'the World'. The outcome of the ensuing struggle is made clear on Easter morning. As we participate sacramentally in Jesus' passion and resurrection in the next fortnight a question is addressed to us: which side are you on?

The demand of the gospel is clear. We have to side with love.

Pray with Archbishop Justin

Bishop Richard has sent a message to our diocese about a visit from our new archbishop:

As part of the preparation for his enthronement on 21st March, the Archbishop will be visiting five cities and six cathedrals in the Southern Province to meet with their bishops and to pray with all who wish to join him in their Cathedrals.

You will find the complete itinerary for this on the Archbishop's Journey in Prayer page. 

On Saturday 16th March the Archbishop will continue his journey through London and I very much hope that some of you will join him for as little or as much of the day as you are able. There will be various aids to prayer set up in both St Paul's and Southwark Cathedral.

• 10.30am - Gather by the blue plaque marking the birthplace of St Thomas À Becket (Archbishop of Canterbury 1161-1170) on the corner of 90 Cheapside and Ironmonger Lane.
• Journey to St. Paul's Cathedral.
• 10:45 to 12:15 - Prayer in the Cathedral. Please enter by the door in the North Transept of the Cathedral which takes you straight into the chapel of St Erkenwald and St Ethelburga with Holman Hunt's painting of the Light of the World.
• 12.30pm - Gather by the south end of the Millennium Bridge.
• Journey along the South Bank and through Borough Market to Southwark Cathedral.
• 13:15 to 17:30 - Prayer in Southwark Cathedral concluding with a short liturgy.

Whether you are able to share with him on this day or not, Archbishop Justin will be very grateful for our continuing prayers. His responsibilities are onerous and it is only by God's grace and supported by the prayers of all the faithful that he will be able fulfil his calling.

God our Father, Lord of all the world,
through your Son you have called us into the fellowship
of your universal Church:
hear our prayer for your faithful people
that in their vocation and ministry
each may be an instrument of your love,
and give to your servant Justin
the needful gifts of grace;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

As we are part of God's universal Church, so on this eve of the Conclave to elect a new pope let us continue to pray also for our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters as they invoke the guidance of God's Holy Spirit.